About me

I work with adults, children and couples who are suffering emotional turmoil in their lives. I use a range of gentle techniques to assist clients recognise and release painful feelings by working with the emotions rather than the mind. I believe the quality of our lives is influenced by our emotional health. All the logic in the world cannot change the way we feel about others and ourselves. If we feel okay we cope with the ups and downs of life; if we are feeling low nothing seems right and we can become depressed and hopeless.

With deep personal insight, I develop genuine, strong and continuous relationships with my clients. I am warm and accepting of all my client's experiences and feelings. I listen with understanding, without judgement and help my clients find solutions from within. With a greater sense of hopefulness and personal power my clients are more able to resolve issues in an authentic way and develop their own goals with independence. I am empathetic, credible and skilled. With positive regard and gentle humour I aim to foster a safe space to explore deep and difficult emotions.

About Carol Welch

I have an Advanced Diploma in Emotional Therapeutic Counselling. My training qualifies me as safe and competent. I am experienced and work full-time as a Counsellor. I am a qualified Trainer with the Foundation for Emotional Therapeutic Counselling.

I am trained to use a number of gentle techniques that help clients work through a range of issues including difficult relationships, anxiety, depression, abuse, anger, phobias, addictions and many more.

The Emotional Therapeutic Counselling training programme is thorough and professional and has been accredited by the National Counselling Society and I am approved by the Professional Standards Authority Accredited Register. I hold a current DBS certificate.

How does Emotional Therapeutic Counselling work?:

I use a range of techniques to assist my clients to recognize and release painful feelings safely by working with the emotions rather than the mind.

This is an effective form of therapeutic counselling that allows clients to face difficulties in their lives, to recognize their feelings, make changes and move forward feeling stronger, happier and more content.

What’s the problem?

Often the problem is that you don’t know what the problem is.

You feel stuck. You repeat past mistakes and following the same old patterns.

Sometimes you do know what the problem is and what it’s about, but are unable to feel any different.

You need a safe place to face the difficulties in your life and understand where they have come from.

Emotional Therapeutic Counselling is a form of therapeutic counselling for those who are suffering emotional turmoil in their lives whether brought about by a crisis, a long term situation, persistent unhappiness, depression, apathy or difficulties in relation to others.

Where do I work?

I have a private practice in Bibury and also work from Cirencester Hypnotherapy and Health Centre in Cirencester and The Isbourne Holistic Centre, Cheltenham Gloucestershire and can arrange to meet at other locations.

How do you know I am the right Therapist for you?

Anxious about choosing the right therapist? I offer a free, initial consultation that usually lasts 30-40 minutes. Choosing the right counsellor isn’t easy. It is vital that you feel comfortable. The initial consultation gives you an opportunity to meet me and find out more about Emotional Therapeutic Counselling. It also helps you to decide if I am the right person to help you. It also allows me the opportunity to ensure I have the right skills to help you.

What commitments do you have to make?Sessions run at your pace and there are no rules about how many or often you must see me.

More about Emotional Therapeutic Counselling

Emotional Therapeutic Counselling holds the belief that emotional wellbeing is the key to a contented fulfilling life with the aim of bringing clients to a wholeness of mind, body and spirit. This form of counselling focuses on feelings rather intellectual analysis. It holds the belief that dis-ease and struggles in life are emotionally based and our feelings do not respond to logical thought. I therefore work with your feelings and emotions rather than your mind to bring about healing.

Client Testimonials

All my life I have battled bouts of depression and have had a black lump of negative feelings inside me, with periodic outbursts of inexplicable rage. Previous counsellors have explained many of my 'issues' to me, and told me that my self-belief was lacking. I understood their advice intellectually, but I had no grasp on how to shift my inner beliefs and feelings. Carol Welch introduced me to Emotional Therapeutic Counselling, and the results are astounding. For the first time in my life, I understand that I am not a 'bad' person, and the blackness inside me is not evil - it is pain from events in my early childhood. I am learning to move through that pain, and to understand how much of my behaviour is determined by coping strategies I learned early on. With practice, I am learning to alter those strategies and rules to something more positive. The pain isn't so black any more, the angry outbursts are less frequent and less frightening. I feel calmer and less ashamed of myself already, and for the first time since I was a toddler I can (mostly) look people square in the face and know that I am OK. Carol, with her boundless patience and the wonderful techniques she employs, has changed my life immeasurably. Thank you.

Counselling sessions with Carol Welch.I spent 3-4 months in counselling with Carol during a period when I was feeling particularly low and remarkably estranged from myself and the world. With her help I began to unearth some of the negative beliefs, mostly about myself I had been building up in some cases since childhood and youth. With Carol I found a breathing space. She provided a space where we began looking constructively at the patterns which had emerged and some of the feelings that lay at the base of my thinking. Carol gave me space to talk and often to cry when coming across particularly painful memories or realisations about my shattered self. She helped me understand that I, like everyone am a person evolved through my experiences in life and through the human relationships I have encountered. That it is not all my fault and that I need to be kinder to myself and that there are processes and tools to help me realise where my negative beliefs come from. Tools which, if applied over the time it takes may help me know myself and my limitations and become more in charge of the effects of my fears and anxiety and essentially know how to gain better control of my inner world. I often left a session with Carol feeling better, wiser on myself and relieved to know that I am in charge and can effect to a large extent my own healing. I still have a lot of work to do but Carol set me on the path to better self understanding. She provided a sensitive yet objective environment and inspired complete confidence. Looking back I feel lucky that when I finally decided that this was too much for me to handle by myself and that I needed help I called up Carol. I truly feel she was the right councillor for me and would warmly recommend her to anyone struggling with depression, feelings of self-estrangedness or general problems with relating to the world around and its people.

I would recommend Carol to anybody looking for counselling based therapy, she has helped me through probably the most difficult time in my life. Always supportive, she has helped me deal with my emotions in a positive way and taught me to care for myself. I found her ways of explaining emotions and feelings very easy to understand and applicable to everything I was going through. She provided me with tools that I could use in day to day life that made problems easier to deal with and so eventually I once again felt strong enough, and confident in myself to get on with life. Thank you so so much.

Having tried various therapies to address my emotional problems, with little success I found the Emotional Therapy Carol practices to be extremely helpful, making a big difference to how I feel. My anxiety and depression have been greatly reduced and as a bonus I am able to understand myself much better, finding life easier to cope with. I am also feeling better physically which I did'nt expect. Carol's gentle, understanding and perceptive way of working is excellent. She is also very easy to talk to. I have no reservation in recommending her and Emotional Therapy itself to others experiencing difficulties.

Training, qualifications & experience

Our training programme is thorough and professional and has been accredited by the National Counselling Society.

Training and Qualifications

I am a member of, and hold an Advanced Diploma in Emotional Therapeutic Counselling.

I am an Accredited Trainer with the Foundation for Emotional Therapeutic Counselling.

I am an Accredited Member of the National Counselling Society (this means our training has been assessed and approved by the National Counselling Society).

I am registered with the Counselling Directory.

I am committed to regular supervision and professional development.

I hold a current DBS (Data and Barring Scheme) certificate and have done for the past 8 years.

I have worked in primary schools for 8 years in an admin capacity.

I regularly meet with peers to attend Foundation conferences.

Experience

My experience has led me to believe in the importance of emotional health in all aspects of our lives.

I worked for many years in Human Resources reaching the position of Human Resource Consultant (Director equivalent) covering all aspects of HR practice within a professional environment.

I have worked in Primary Schools for 8 years.

I was a director of a restaurant business for 10 years.

I am married with two children. Family and friendships are important to me.

Other areas of counselling I deal with

The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron

Run by Carol Welch MFETC (AdDip) MNCS (Acc)

Learn to let yourself be creative…

Do you long for more creativity in your life? Do you dream of creative projects you’d like to do?

Are you in a career or life transition asking “What’s next?” or “What do I really want?”.

Do you yearn for a more authentically expressed life. Where your identity feels true to you?

If so, The Artist’s Way could be for you.

The Artist’s Way is a 12 week transformational course that guides you through the process of recovering your creative self – whether or not you call yourself an artist.

We explore the resistance, blocks and barriers that prevent your creative impulse from finding expression. You are taken deep in to life issues. We work to dissolve procrastination, perfectionism and self-doubt.

Working with in small groups or individually, we follow the book chapter by chapter completing exercises and following the weekly practices of journaling and artist’s dates. Group support and my facilitation will ‘hold’ and guide you as you recover and regain your passions, and live more fully expressed.

The course requires commitment of time and energy. We meet once each week for between 2 and 2.5 hours depending on the size of the group. The cost is £240 per person.